Drinking tumbler for children



May 30, 1950 w PQNCY 2,509,275

DRINKING TUMBLER FOR CHILDREN Filed Aug. 25, 1946 GEOR E W. PONCYPatented May 30, 1950 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 2 Claims.

This invention relates to a drinking tumbler for small children which isespecially designed to resist accidental or even deliberate tipping withconsequent spilling of the contents to the discomfort of the child andthe annoyance of the parent, The invention contemplates the provision ofa tumbler which has a substantially concentric lateral support whichwill effectively brace the tumbler against tipping, while not addingunnecessarily to the weight of the device so that a child may easilyhandle it. A further object of the invention is the provision of such asupport which will, in addition to resisting tipping, also tend toresist lateral pushing such as a child is prone to indulge in, A furtherobject is to devise a tumbler of the kind described which will have anopen space intervening between said tumbler and its lateral support sothat the support does not serve as a catch basin to hold overflow foodfrom the tumbler which would be spilled over the child as it lifted andtilted the tumbler to drink.

These and other objects will more fully appear from a consideration ofthe following specification taken in conjunction with the accompanyingdrawings which are illustrative of several preferred embodiments of theinvention.

In the drawings,

Figure 1 is an elevational view of the device with a portion of thelateral support and tumbler broken away and partly shown in section.

Figure 2 is a plan view thereof.

Figure 3 is a view similar to Figure 1, illustrating a modified form ofthe invention.

The invention comprises a tumbler II] which is substantially centrallydisposed within a concentric ring I I, both parts resting on the sameplane as shown in Figure 2. These two parts are integrally joined acrossthe intervening open space l5 by a plurality of radially extendingbraces or bridging members l2 which maintain the parts in a fixedrelation to one another. These bridging members are preferably light andthin so as not to add materially to the weight of the device.

The ring II, as shown, is in the form of an inverted U in cross section,as indicated at [4. The ring in this form, with the legs of the Uresting on a table or other support, will tend to offer greaterresistance to lateral movement such as the pushing a child may give it,than an ordinary tumbler, the legs adding additional frictional surfacefor engagement with the support such as a table, and having a slightflexibility or springy reaction when pushed in engagement with a flatsurface. The ring, if desired, may be made completely circular, square,or of any other shape or configuration (not shown) which may beconsidered expedient for manufacturing or other reasons. While it iscontemplated that the device may be made in one piece by molding, anyother method of manufacture, by means of which the device may beeconomically and satisfactorily produced may be used.

The article of this invention may be made of any suitable material, butthe plastics are preferred, particularly the artificial resin plasticswhich are light in weight, durable, economical to manufacture and lendthemselves extremely well to the molding of devices of this kind.

It will be obvious that a tumbler constructed as described and shownwill not easily be accidentally tipped. Because of the enlarged lateralsupport at the base of the tumbler, the device will tend to slide ratherthan tip when pushed and, as previously indicated sliding, too, will beresisted.

The space if: left between the tumbler and ring is an important featureof this invention, the space being bridged only by the bridging membersl2. Prior art devices are known which combine a tumbler and plate. Theseare objectionable, however, because the plate functions as a catch basinto collect and hold any liquid or solid food which may have been spilledor overflowed from the tumbler, and when the child lifts the tumbler todrink the contents, whatever liquids or solids have collected in theplate or catch basin are promptly spilled or dumped on the child or onthe floor.

By eliminating the plate portion and leaving the space between thetumbler and ring open, free and unobstructed, such spilling over astakes place is caught by the table or napkin usually provided for thechild, and will not be dumped so as to soil the child or floor.

In the modification of the invention shown in Figure 3, the lateralsupport I i is raised a short distance so that it lies in a planeslightly above that of the bottom of the tumbler. If the tumbler I0 isaccidentally struck, it will tilt slightly and bring the ring II inengagement with the table or other support (not shown) and might rotatein a circle pivoting about the tumbler, but it would not tip over.

It will be understood that changes in design and construction may bemade which do not depart from the spirit of the invention as defined inthe appended claims.

Having thus described my invention, I claim;

1. A drinking tumbler for children to reduce 3 the likelihood of tippingcomprising the combination of a substantially cylindrical tumbler and anintegral ring extending substantially beyond the wall of the tumbler tofurnish lateral support therefor, said ring being in the form of aninverted U in radial cross section, and being substantiallyconcentrically disposed about the base of said tumbler and spacedtherefrom, the legs of the U resting in a plane substantially coincidentwith the plane of the bottom of the tumbler to resist lateral motionwhen resting on a support, and means extending between said tumbler andring and bridging said space to connect said tumbler and ring together.

2. A drinking tumbler according to claim 1, in which the last namedmeans comprises radially extending arms integrall connected with saidtumbler and ring.

GEORGE W. PONCY.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file'ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 166,350 Dodge Aug. 3, 1875511,617 Howard Dec. 26, 1893 955,170 Kandlbinder Apr. 19, 1910 1,120,428White et al Dec. 8, 1914 1,123,793 Pick Jan. 5, 1915 1,222,390 Gorham etal Apr. 10, 1917 1,338,106 Smith Apr. 27, 1920 2,056,943 Lehman Oct. 13,1936 2,240,842 Gehring et a1. May 6, 1941 FOREIGN PATENTS Number CountryDate 56,824 Germany May 25, 1891 179,107 Germany Nov, 26, 1906

